(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for dealing with bills, such as an automatic machine for withdrawing money from a bank or a bill counter.
(2) Prior Art
An automatic machine for withdrawing money from the bank is known, in which the user inserts a treated card (memory medium) into the machine, inputs the amount of money to be withdrawn by pushing the buttons of the keyboard of the machine, and then receives the requested amount of money from the machine. Machines of this kind usually comprise: means for reading data magnetically or electrically recorded in the memory medium, such as a card reader; means for displaying the input data input by the user and teaching the user the next procedure for operating the machine; means for inputting the amount of money required and the indentification code of the user, such as a keyboard; a bill dispenser comprising bill boxes housing bills and a bill counter for counting bills withdrawn from the bill boxes; and a means for issuing a receipt on which accounting items such as the data, amount withdrawn, and the amount remaining in the account are printed.
The level of the keyboard and the discharge box in which bills to be withdrawn are placed is limited to a range wherein users can easily operate the machine. The bill dispenser includes the bill boxes and is large and heavy. Therefore, in conventional automatic machines of this kind, only the bill dispenser is disposed below the discharge box or keyboard while the other equipment such as the card reader and the receipt issuing means are disposed above those units. Such a construction makes the machine overlarge and of an unwieldly height. Also, since the receipt is desirably discharged simultaneously with the bills from the discharge box, the receipt must be placed on the bills within the machine. Therefore, the arrangement of the discharge routes of the receipt and the bills is complicated, which also makes the construction of the machine overlarge.